Food or edible material: processes – compositions – and products – Products per se – or processes of preparing or treating... – Beverage or beverage concentrate
Reexamination Certificate
1999-01-29
2001-01-30
Pratt, Helen (Department: 1761)
Food or edible material: processes, compositions, and products
Products per se, or processes of preparing or treating...
Beverage or beverage concentrate
C426S573000, C426S580000, C426S593000, C426S594000, C426S597000, C426S601000, C426S613000, C426S654000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06180159
ABSTRACT:
TECHNICAL FIELD
The present application relates to flavored instant and ready-to-drink beverages (coffees, hot chocolate, teas, creamy juice drinks, milk shakes, nutritional drinks, and the like) having an improved, cleaner mouthfeel, delivering creaminess, richness and/or thickness at a lower dosage of solids, but without mouthfeel negatives, such as “sliminess” or “stringiness”. Additionally, the present application relates to instant coffee products that deliver these mouthfeel and thickness benefits, as well as higher flavor impact and a frothy, foamy beverage.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Current dry mixes used to prepare many instant or ready-to-drink beverages, especially instant flavored coffee beverages, typically comprise a mixture of non-dairy creamers, sweeteners, soluble beverage components (e.g. instant coffee products use soluble coffee) and flavors. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,962 (Stipp). Ready-to-drink beverages, in the form sold to consumers, usually have from 10-20% solids. Consumers usually prepare flavored instant beverages using, on average, 7.5% solids, and generally in the range of 5%-10% solids. Unfortunately, at a 5-10% dosage of solids, instant beverages prepared from current dry mixes are perceived as thin and watery and do not develop any foamy/frothy head. They also lack the creamy mouthfeel, richness, flavor impact and sweetness that is desired by consumers of such products. These important attributes are delivered in ready-to-drink creamy beverages via a high level of solids (>12%) alone, or in combination with hydrocolloids, pectins, and starches.
Creamy beverages, generally, and creamy coffee beverages, in particular, typically rely on finely dispersed fat (i.e., homogenized fat) to deliver mouthfeel. This emulsified fat can be delivered by liquid or spray dried non-dairy creamers, whole milk, or low fat milk. However, the fat found at normal levels in current flavored coffee beverages provides insufficient mouthfeel benefits. These mouthfeel benefits can be improved by increasing the level of fat. However, increasing the level of fat creates other issues such as stability of the fat against oxidative reactions, the development of off-flavors, and the potential instability of the emulsion of the non-dairy creamer. Further, since non-dairy creamers typically contain only 35 to 50% fat, delivering increased mouthfeel can require significantly higher volumes or dosages of powdered products. This makes these powdered products less useful, for the consumer, as spoonable executions.
An alternative approach to deliver mouthfeel is to use ingredients that increase the thickness (viscosity) of the beverage. However, increasing the viscosity of the beverage does not necessarily translate into an increase in desirable mouthfeel attributes. Mouthfeel is more of a sensory perception influenced by forces distinct from those that contribute to viscosity which give the perception of thickness. Hydrocolloid gums and water-soluble starches are typically used to increase beverage thickness (i.e., viscosity). However, hydrocolloid gums can only develop limited mouthfeel and impart negative textural effects such as “sliminess” and “stringiness.” In addition, beverage products, especially hot beverages, which incorporate high concentrations of hydrocolloid gums are subject to gel upon cooling.
Water-soluble starches can also be used to increase viscosity and provide limited mouthfeel. However, the quantity of water-soluble starch needed to deliver these attributes is usually so high that more solids are added and the desired target dosage of solids of about 5-10% (generally about 7.5% solids for instant coffee products) cannot be achieved. Mouthfeel, richness, creaminess, sweetness and flavor impact can be increased by delivering a higher dosage of solids, i.e., greater than about 10% solids. However, such a high level of delivered solids requires larger volume of product to be used. This usually translates to an increase in the number of spoonfuls of product required to prepare the beverage.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to instant and ready-to-drink flavored beverage products, (coffee, hot chocolate, teas, creamy juice drinks, milk shakes, nutritional drinks, and the like, especially instant coffee products), that have improved mouthfeel (“creaminess”, “richness”, “body”, “complexity”, “body-richness”, “substantial”) and thickness, without “sliminess” or “stringiness”. These beverage products comprise: a water-insoluble component, a water-soluble component, and optionally, water and/or a flavorant. Said water-insoluble component has particles with a mean particle size diameter of from about 0.1 to about 3.0 microns and includes: (1) from about 0.2 to about 40% of a microparticulate component; (2) from about 0.0 to about 40% of a fat/oil component; (3) from about 0.0 to about 3.0% of an emulsifier; (4) from about 0 to about 5% of a microcrystalline cellulose. Said water-soluble component includes: (1) from about 0.075 to about 40% soluble beverage component; (2) from about 0.05 to about 30% of a thickener; (3) from about 0 to about 4% buffers; (4) from about 0 to about 60% foam stabilizer; (5) from about 0 to about 5% acid; (6) from about 0 to about 5% carbonate/bicarbonate; (7) from about 0 to about 10% sweetener; (8) from about 0 to about 20% milk solids; and (9) from about 0 to about 3% processing aids. The flavored beverage products also comprise from about 0 to about 10% of a flavorant. Said flavorant may be included in the water-insoluble component, the water-soluble component, or both. Said flavored beverage also comprises from about 0 to about 95%, preferably from about 80 to about 95%, water. The ratio of the water-soluble to water-insoluble (S/I) components is about 3.3 or less (i.e., the ratio of water-insoluble to water-soluble (I/S) components is 0.30 or greater) or the water-insoluble component per unit volume of the product is at least about 0.019 g/cc.
The beverage products of the present invention, (especially preferred are instant coffee products), can deliver a creamy, rich, preferably foamy, beverage with a clean, improved mouthfeel and thickness without “sliminess” or “stringiness”, as well as a higher flavor impact, at a lower dosage of solids (5-10%, preferably 6.5-8.5%, and more preferably 7.5%). This is achieved by formulating said beverage products so that (1) the level of finely dispersed water-insoluble components in the product is such that the ratio of water-soluble to water-insoluble components (S/I) is about 3.3 or less (i.e., the ratio of water-insoluble to water-soluble (I/S) components is 0.30 or greater); or (2) the level of water-insoluble components per unit volume (I/V), is at least about 0.019 grams per cubic centimeter; or (3) both.
It is also preferable to include a combination of ingredients for mouthfeel and thickeners (e.g., starches and gums) to provide improved texture in the beverage prepared from the product. It is also preferable for these beverage products to include a sugar such as sucrose (or other acceptable sugars such as sorbitol, fructose, mannose), and a high intensity sweetener, preferably a combination of aspartame and acesulfame K, to help maintain a low level of solids in the drinkable beverage, yet deliver higher flavor impact and richness. These products may also optionally, but preferably for instant coffee beverages, contain a foaming creamer, a foam generating system, and a protein foam stabilizer to provide a foamy, frothy beverage. These products also optionally, but preferably, contain an effective amount of a flavorant.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION
A. Definitions
As used herein, the terms “ready-to-serve beverage” and “ready-to-drink beverage” are used interchangeably to refer to beverage products that are in a ready-to-use, consumable form. These products are prepared by a manufacturer and sold to the consumer in consumable form. They can be made at the manufacturer level from dry mixes, powders, liquids, extracts, concentrates, and emulsions, us
Butterbaugh Jeffrey Lee
Sargent Jeffrey Alan
Small Leonard Edwin
Villagran Francisco Valentino
Clark Karen F.
Pratt Helen
Rasser Jacobus C.
The Procter & Gamble & Company
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